Revista simpozionului Eficienta si calitate in educatie 2018 Revista simpozionului | Page 19
An adapted communicative approach
Students who have an auditory impairment benefit most from the presence of a
sign language interpreter. The teacher needs a specialist’s support in such cases
in order to make the learning process possible. Difficulties occur when there is little
access to resources or when the teacher's methods don't have professional
support. Learning sign language could be an option, although it is time consuming
and it needs constant improvement – i.e. course after course.
In Romanian schools we are often faced with the situation of having to teach deaf
students without having sign language training. Moreover the availability of
professional support is scarce, which leads to pressure on the teacher and a lower
quality of the learning act. The teacher must find a common ground on which to
establish communication with the impaired learners. And this requires a lot of
dedication, determination and hard work.
Community support
Students with special educational should get support from community as well. This
could be in the form of support for the families, special counseling, medical care,
work opportunities and so on. Support programs have been developed at the
national level, and many have been successfully implemented in schools. Non-
profit organizations provide support to students in difficulty, and continue to provide
support for them after graduation.
Family support is also of paramount importance. In some cases, children have to
travel far for home and go to boarding school in order to have access to SEN
education. In some situations, inclusion in local schools represents the less
traumatic choice for the child and their family. The community thus plays an
important part in the assistance provided to families that struggle with an
“educational” crisis for their SEN child.
If this crisis is doubled by poverty and unemployment, the family environment
becomes an obstacle in the personal development of any child, not just in the case
of a physically or psychologically challenged human being.
Conclusion
The close collaboration between school structures, family and community
represents the success formula for SEN children. Even so, individual conditions
differ from case to case, and the teacher always depends on his/her power of
adaptability and flexibility to the requirements that come with every new SEN
student.
Bibliography:
Alderson, J. & Jarvis, S. Introduction to Supervision for Child Welfare Services.
1999.
Gerguţ, A., Neamţu, C., Psihopedagogie specială, Editura Polirom, Iași. 2000.
UNESCO&UNICEF, Pachet de resurse pentru instruirea profesorilor. Cerințe
speciale în clasă, 1993.
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